Sunday, December 10, 2017

This Date in Rock Music History: November 15

1956:  Elvis Presley appeared in a movie for the first time as Love Me Tender opened at the Paramount Theatre in New York City.  (Note:  there are conflicting reports of the date of the premiere.  The books 'Icons of Rock:  An Encyclopedia of the Legends Who Changed Music Forever' by Scott Schinder and Andy Schwartz and 'Elvis:  Day by Day' by Peter Guralnick and Ernst Jorgensen state that the movie premiered on November 15.  The newspaper 'The Examiner' and The Graceland.com website also show the premiere as the 15th.  The books 'The Elvis Movies' by James L. Neibaur and 'Elvis Presley:  A Biography' by Kathleen Tracy state that the premiere was on November 16.  This would be a tossup to determine the accurate date, unless those sources all saw the picture of the marquee above, which clearly shows that the premiere was on the 15th...)   






1964:  Peter & Gordon appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show(Note:  some websites report the date as November 9, but according to 'TV.com' and other online sites where you can watch video of the performance, it was November 15.)
1965:  The Beatles finished recording the album Rubber Soul.
1965:  The Rolling Stones performed "Get Off Of My Cloud", which aired on Hullabaloo on NBC-TV on this date.






1969:  The Star Club in Hamburg, Germany, where the Beatles performed in their early years, announced it was closing its doors at the end of the month.








1969:  Glen Campbell enjoyed the top Easy Listening song with "Try A Little Kindness".










1969:  We first heard of a new group called the Jackson 5 as their first single "I Want You Back" debuted on the chart.












               R.B. Greaves had a huge hit

1969:  The 5th Dimension remained at #1 with "Wedding Bell Blues" while the Beatles crowded around with "Come Together" at #2 and "Something" at #3.  Blood, Sweat & Tears rose from 8-4 with "And When I Die" and Smith was still at #5 with "Baby It's You".  The rest of the Top 10:  Two former #1's--"I Can't Get Next To You" by the Temptations and "Suspicious Minds" from Elvis Presley, the Flying Machine were at #8 with "Smile A Little Smile For Me", the Archies' former #1 "Sugar, Sugar" and R.B. Greaves took a leap from 18-10 with "Take A Letter Maria".

1969:  Abbey Road by the Beatles spent a third week at #1 on the Album chart with CCR's Green River second.
1972:  America released their fine album Homecoming.
1972:  Harry Chapin and his wife celebrated the birth of son Joshua Burke.









1974:  The Doobie Brothers released the single "Black Water".
1975:  ABBA were in the United States for the only time in their career, performing "S.O.S." and "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" on American Bandstand on ABC-TV.







1975:  Silver Convention achieved a #1 song on the R&B chart with "Fly, Robin, Fly".
1975:  Diana Ross had another big solo hit as the "Theme From 'Mahogany' (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" moved from 79 to 53.








1975:  "Island Girl" by Elton John was the #1 song for a third week as "Lyin' Eyes" officially would have to settle for being one of the top #2 songs of the Rock Era--many stations had it #1, however.  The Four Seasons were up to #3 with "Who Loves You", their biggest hit since "Let's Hang On" in 1965.  Jefferson Starship edged up with "Miracles" while Linda Ronstadt's double-sided hit "Heat Wave"/"Love Is A Rose" was at #5.  The rest of the Top 10:  K.C. and the Sunshine Band moved from 19 to 6 with "That's The Way (I Like It)", Natalie Cole's "This Will Be", Morris Albert had song #8 with "Feelings", the Captain & Tennille with "The Way I Want to Touch You" and War rode into the Top 10 with "Low Rider".
1977:  Debby Boone had the #1 Easy Listening song with "You Light Up My Life".

1978:  Barbra Streisand released her Greatest Hits Volume 2 package.
1978:  Echo & the Bunnymen made their live debut at Eric's Club in Liverpool, England.



1980:  Kenny Rogers' 12th solo hit became his first career #1 as "Lady" moved into the coveted position.  That moved "Woman In Love" by Barbra Streisand out as adult songs dominated the chart.  Donna Summer was at #3 with "The Wanderer" and Queen remained at #4 with "Another One Bites The Dust".  The rest of the Top 10:  Diana Ross and "I'm Coming Out", Stephanie Mills was up to #6 with "Never Knew Love Like This Before", Steve Wonder's "Master Blaster" took position #7, the Pointer Sisters dropped with their huge hit "He's So Shy", Leo Sayer bumped into the Top 10 with "More Than I Can Say" and John Lennon jumped from 32-10 in only his third week with his first big hit in six year--"(Just Like) Starting Over".










1983:  Culture Club released the single "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" in the United States.










1984:  Glenn Frey released his solo single "The Heat Is On".












1984:  Billy Ocean released the follow-up to "Caribbean Queen"--"Loverboy".  (Note:  one website shows the release as December 1, an impossibility since it is physically and logistically impossible for a song to debut on the chart (December 1) on the date it is released.)










                 Eddie Money with his biggest career hit...

1986:  For the second week, Boston held on to #1 with "Amanda".  The Human League were at #2 with "Human", Madonna's "True Blue" took home the #3 prize and Eddie Money was fourth with "Take Me Home Tonight".  Newcomers Bon Jovi had their first Top 10 with "You Give Love A Bad Name".  The rest of the Top 10:  "I Didn't Mean To Turn You On" by Robert Palmer, Cameo's "Word Up", Sun Valley, Idaho's Peter Cetera teamed with Amy Grant to enter the Top 10 with "The Next Time I Fall", Oran "Juice" Jones moved "The Rain" to #9 and Cyndi Lauper dropped with "True Colors".
                Winwood's classic had become a fixture in the Top 10...and for All-Time...


1986:  Boston's Third Stage was #1 on the Album chart for the third week while former #1 Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi was still hanging around and Fore!  by Huey Lewis & the News remained third.  Cyndi Lauper's True Colors came in #4 and Tina Turner dropped to #5 with Break Every Rule.  The rest of the Top 10:  Dancing on the Ceiling from Lionel Richie, Steve Winwood's great album Back in the High Life, the Soundtrack to "Top Gun", The Bridge by Billy Joel at #9 and Madonna snuck into the Top 10 with True Blue.
1988:  Queensryche opened for Metallica as their tour of North America kicked off at the Toledo Sports Arena in Toledo, Ohio.

1990:  Frank Farian, producer of Milli Vanilli, admitted that Fabrice Morvan and Rob Pilatus of the group didn't actually sing any notes on their album and lip-synched in live performances.



1997:  Robyn had the highest-debuting song with "Show Me Love".
1997:  Elton John spent a sixth week at #1 with "Candle In The Wind 1997", his tribute to the late Princess Diana.  It was Elton's 66th career hit, his 27th Top 10 and ninth #1.  Usher was a distant #2 with "You Make Me Wanna'" while LeAnn Rimes had #3--"How Do I Live".
2003:  The city of Augusta, Georgia announced plans to construct a statue of James Brown and rename a music festival in the singer's honor.
2005:  Madonna released the album Confession on a Dance Floor (Note:  some websites show the date of release as November 11, but it was the 15th, according to the official Madonna website.)

Born This Day:

1932:  Petula Clark was born in Epsom, England.



1932:  Clyde McPhatter, vocalist with the Drifters and Billy Ward & the Dominoes and a solo artist ("A Lover's Question" from 1958), was born in Durham, North Carolina; died June 13, 1972 in New York City of a heart attack from complications from heart, liver and kidney disease brought on by years of drinking alcohol.  (Note:  some websites report Clyde's birth year as either 1931 or 1933, but according to the book 'Rock Obituaries:  Knocking on Heaven's Door' by Nick Talevski, as well as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website and other credible sources, he was born in 1932.)  
1937:  Little Willie John ("Fever") was born in Cullendale, Arkansas.






1945:  Anni-Frid Lyngstad of ABBA was born in Ballangen, Norway.  (Note:  some websites show her birthplace as Narvik, Norway, but she was born in Ballangen, which is just outside of Narvik, according to the newspaper 'The Daily Mail'.)
1949:  Steve Fossen, founding member and bassist of Heart 
1953:  Alexander O'Neal, solo artist who also co-produced the album Control for Janet Jackson, was born in Natchez, Mississippi.
1954:  Tony Thompson, drummer of Chic and the Power Station and session musician for Diana Ross, Rod Stewart and Duran Duran, was born in Queens, New York; died November 12, 2003 in Encino, California, less than a month after being diagnosed with kidney cancer.
1957:  Joe Leeway of the Thompson Twins was born in Islington, London.

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